What's a Good First Car for a South Dakota Teen?

How young South Dakota teens start driving

Here's how South Dakota's graduated licensing steps work, according to the Department of Public Safety.

A few more rules matter for the car you choose:

• Teens on either permit can't use any wireless device while driving.
• Driving without a parent, for the first 6 months on a restricted permit, passengers are limited to immediate family or household members. After that, one passenger under 18 from outside the family is allowed.
• Everyone under 18 must wear a seat belt, front and back.

Rules change, so confirm them with the South Dakota Department of Public Safety. The practical point: a 14- or 15-year-old may soon drive alone to school or a job, sometimes on rural roads in January. Pick the car for that driver.

What IIHS looks for in a teen's car

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Consumer Reports publish a list of recommended used vehicles for teens, last updated in May 2026. Their guiding principles:

• Skip high horsepower. Powerful cars can encourage a young driver to speed.
• Not too small, not too big. Micro and minicars don't protect enough in a crash. IIHS also leaves out large SUVs and pickups, which can be hard to handle and pose more risk to others.
• Electronic stability control is a must. IIHS says it substantially reduces the risk of a fatal loss-of-control crash.
• The best crash-test ratings you can get.

Every vehicle on the used list weighs more than 2,750 pounds and earns a good rating in IIHS's driver-side small overlap front test, plus solid Consumer Reports braking and handling scores. The top tier, Best Choices, also needs standard automatic emergency braking that performs well in IIHS pedestrian tests, and good or acceptable headlights. The list covers small, midsize and large cars and small and midsize SUVs. It includes no pickups or minivans.

Match the exact model year, since ratings change. Stability control has been required on new light vehicles built since September 2011, so nearly any 2012 or newer model has it. On anything older, confirm it.

Rural roads, gravel and winter

SDDOT counts about 49,000 miles of gravel road in the state, roughly 60 percent of all public road miles. If you live outside town, your teen will likely learn on them.

Rural roads carry more risk. Nationally in 2023, NHTSA found the traffic death rate per mile driven was 1.5 times higher in rural areas than in urban areas. About two-thirds of rural deaths came in crashes where a vehicle left the roadway. Stability control is built to help a driver keep control when a car starts to slide, one more reason IIHS calls it a must.

Should a teen drive AWD? All-wheel drive helps a car get moving on snow and gravel hills. It doesn't help it stop or turn; tires do that. A small AWD SUV is a fine first car, but it doesn't replace good tires or practice. Our AWD vs. 4WD vs. FWD guide explains the differences.

South Dakota already requires 10 hours of bad-weather practice on the permit. Use the first snowfalls for it, with a parent in the passenger seat, and check SD511 before longer trips.

Tires are the first thing I look at on a teen's car. A new driver on worn tires on a gravel road is the setup that worries me most.

Scott Kennedy, Service Manager

Our service techs' avoid list

When parents ask what to watch for in a teen's first car, here is what our service team tells them:

• High miles plus neglect. Miles alone aren't the deal-breaker. Skipped oil changes and fluid services are.
• No service records. If no one can tell you how the car was maintained, assume the worst or get a pre-purchase inspection first. Our service center does pre-purchase inspections, even on cars you're buying elsewhere.
• Flood, salvage or rebuilt titles. A federal NMVTIS report shows title brands like junk, salvage and flood, plus the latest reported odometer readings. The Justice Department's NMVTIS consumer site explains how to get one. We include a free CARFAX report with our vehicles.
• Worn tires. Consumer Reports suggests shopping for new tires at 4/32 inch of tread and replacing them before 2/32. Its quarter test: put Washington's head into a main groove, and if the top of his head is level with the tread, about 4/32 inch remains.
• Open recalls. IIHS advises checking for recalls by VIN before buying any used vehicle. NHTSA's recall lookup is free.
• Big power or big modifications. A lifted truck or a high-horsepower car is a lot of vehicle for a new driver.

I'd take a plain, well-kept sedan or small SUV with records over a newer car nobody can tell me anything about.

Scott Kennedy, Service Manager

Budget, insurance and financing

IIHS lists its used Best Choices at a median retail price of about $13,100 to $19,700, based on each model's earliest qualifying year. Its lower-priced Good Choices run about $4,600 to $9,900. The grids below show what we have under $20,000, and AWD or 4WD vehicles under $25,000. Not every car in them is on the IIHS list, so check the model year. Prices exclude tax, title, license and a $259 documentation fee.

• Insurance: call your agent with the VIN before you buy, and ask how that specific vehicle affects the premium for a teen driver. If you finance, read our guide to insurance on a financed used car.
• Financing: apply online, try the payment calculator, or check your buying power.
• Peace of mind: every vehicle we sell is inspected, and most come with the FMC Certified warranty: 3 months or 3,000 miles of powertrain coverage at no charge. Vehicles we sell from 2008 and newer come with CarChief, a monitor that sends maintenance and diagnostic alerts, with the first year included.